The London Welsh captain, Jonathan Mills, has insisted the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over the club will only serve to galvanise the squad as they take their fight for Premiership survival to Gloucester.

The Exiles will have to wait until early next week to discover whether their appeal against a five-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player, the scrum-half Tyson Keats, has been successful. London Welsh were confident they presented a strong case to the three-man panel in Thursday's hearing, arguing they could not be held responsible for the criminal activity of a "rogue employee".

The points deduction has plunged London Welsh to the foot of the Premiership table and they head to Kingsholm on Saturday two points adrift of Sale Sharks – but in defiant mood. "We are at the bottom of the table now and that's not because of how we played rugby," Mills said.

"As players we feel we are good enough to be in this league. We are better than the bottom of the league and we feel we should be above that. Things have gone against us in the past and it has brought the best out of us. We just have to go out and prove it again.

"We are a close-knit side and it does give that extra motivation to want to prove people wrong. We want to take it head on and try to make sure we get out of it."

At the end of last season, London Welsh were initially told they would be blocked from winning promotion into the Premiership and that decision only served to inspire Mills's men to win the Championship final.

The club eventually secured their place in the top flight via an appeal and they made an impressive start to life in the Premiership, winning four of their first 10 matches. Against the odds, it looked like they might survive.

But then it emerged that Keats, the New Zealand-born scrum-half who had featured in all four victories, was working illegally because he did not have the correct visa.

Mike Scott, the club's former team manager, had made a mistake when he applied for an ancestry visa – Keats qualified through his English grandfather – and instead of resubmitting the forms he attempted to cover it up.

Scott told the club that a visa had been granted and he submitted false documents to the Rugby Football Union, including a forged passport, in a bid to pass Keats off as having been born in England.

London Welsh were docked five points, hit with a £15,000 fine and had a further five-point deduction suspended until the end of next season. Scott accepted a police caution for his actions and he has been banned from rugby for life.

"There's never been a dull moment with London Welsh for as long as I have been involved with them, whether on the field or off the field, whether positive or negative," said Mills, who joined the club in 2007. "As players we can't control that side of it. We just have to concentrate on the rugby side of it."

London Welsh have said all season that six victories should be enough to keep them in the Premiership and that remains the squad's target, which means two wins from their last five games.

"At this stage of the season nobody thought that we would have any chance. They thought that we would have been cut adrift ages ago and that we would not have one win," Mills said. "But we are still fighting and the one thing this team will do is that they will fight until they can't do any more. That's an attitude we need in a relegation scrap.

"We are excited to go out there prove we are good enough again and make sure we stay up by our own merits no matter happens off the pitch. The boys have given Tyson a bit of banter but he always has a smile of his face. I think if anything it will have made him even more determined to help us stay up."

While London Welsh target survival, Gloucester are chasing a place in the Premiership semi-finals and they are able to recall the England centre Billy Twelvetrees and the Scotland lock Jim Hamilton.

"There's everything to play for," said the director of rugby, Nigel Davies. "We're fifth at the moment so we're in a position where, if we play well in the next five games, we can finish in the top four.

"It'll be a big test. London Welsh have been extremely competitive all year, they've caught some sides out. They'll be a bit frustrated with all that's happened recently, and it'll be backs to the wall as far as they're concerned. They'll come out with everything to prove. It's a tough time to play them, a real challenge."